Red Beans & Rice is a weekly e-mail of interesting articles, funding resources, professional development opportunities and other areas that Cuidiu has come across the previous week related to the nonprofit and philanthropic sector. Each day we receive hundreds of e-mails, RSS feeds and blog postings and this is our attempt to synthesize all of this into the most useful information for you. We look forward to sharing this information with those who we know closely and those whom we have shared only a relationship through e-mail.
Please let us know what information you find most useful and please forward this information to your colleagues, board members and friends. The reason for the name Red Beans & Rice originates from Louie Armstrong and how he signed his letters. According to some he meant it as a kind gesture to grow stronger.
Shares insights from a discussion on integrating evidence-based out-of-school time programs into community initiatives to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children. Outlines issues and the need for adaptable, data-driven programs with defined outcomes.
Synthesizes recommendations and best practices for disaster management - mitigation and preparedness, response, and recovery - at child welfare agencies. Outlines hypothetical scenarios, likely obstacles, recommendations, and resources.
Analyzes the impact of neighborhood poverty rates during childhood on relative intergenerational economic mobility and how changes in those rates affect incomes, earnings, and wealth as adults. Outlines policy implications for closing the racial gap.
How many of us could predict even a few months ago what might take
place to affect our donations, our foundation grants, or our government
contracts? The entrenched practice in many nonprofits of using the
approved budget as the primary financial reference point just isn't
suited to effective financial leadership anymore.
Have you
heard of the Nonprofit Blog Carnival? Every month bloggers all across the
nonprofit world share their posts. This month's theme is: "Day in the Life of a
Nonprofit Professional.
Field Stuff Templates, Books, Tools and Products from the Field
When the economy began tanking, a
buzz of merger predictions ran through the non-profit world. With resources
shrinking and too many organizations competing with each other, the time seemed
ripe for consolidation. But nationally that hasn't happened, at least on the
scale predicted.
The Global Social Investment
Exchange - an emerging federation of social investment exchanges - launched an interactive,
online map of the various players in this space.
Nonprofits often receive
criticism for ignoring technology innovation, incorporating new technology too
slowly into their operations, or improperly adapting potentially powerful tools
in a manner that blunts their potential for change.
The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle A
vicious cycle is leaving nonprofits so hungry for decent infrastructure that
they can barely function as organizations-let alone serve their beneficiaries.
The cycle starts with funders' unrealistic expectations about how much running
a nonprofit costs, and results in nonprofits' misrepresenting their costs while
skimping on vital systems-acts that feed funders' skewed beliefs. To break the
nonprofit starvation cycle, funders must take the lead.
The Evolution of Pro Bono Service: What It Means for Corporations Today In just the past year, pro bono
service has increasingly taken center stage in many conversations among
corporate giving professionals. Why the shift? There are several reasons,
including the current economic climate and the commensurate growing needs of
nonprofits, but perhaps the most direct reason lies in the fact that corporate
giving professionals are seeking innovative ways to magnify the impact of their
giving without spending more dollars. What better way to do this than by
leveraging non-cash resources such as employee talent?
In 1989, Jacqueline Novogratz
entered Stanford Business School hoping to "gain the confidence and
skills" to fuse the business and the nonprofit communities. There she met John
Gardner, a professor emeritus who mentored her until his death at age 89 in
2002.
"There's been a lot of talk the last few days about the recovery effort in New Orleans -- the benchmarks that have been met and how much work there is to be done. While the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is a natural opportunity to take stock of those efforts and to look ahead, I can't help but remember the immediate aftermath of the storm, which I experienced secondhand through my parents' dispatches from the flooded city."
"..Where government has struggled, citizens have demonstrated resilience, creativity, and good old-fashioned guts. I truly believe that New Orleans has the highest level of civic engagement of any city in the United States right now. Residents keep up with what is happening in their neighborhoods, they voice their concerns, they try to come up with solutions. New Orleans is a city of neighborhoods, and almost every neighborhood has a vibrant, active grassroots group guiding its renewal. Organizations like Neighborhoods Partnership Network link them together and ensure shared support and vision."
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Good Read!
The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World
